Follow my regular Sunday postings illustrating past and present stock photos I've seen, shot and sold… and for some insight into why and how I thought they would turn into extra income! There will be a few surprises – not least to myself – but you will quickly realize that there are actually no real surprises when it comes to profitable stock photography. Not only can any image sell if the right market is found… but markets can be found before images are even created in the camera. All it takes is a searching eye and an inquisitive mind… so read on, learn and enjoy ~ Ed Buziak.

#67 – Give us this day our daily bread

Pain Rustique [Alamy image ref. BD7KNJ]

Both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year were ones of enforced but welcome simplicity. I say enforced not because there was little money to splash out, but because the hotel where we currently reside was empty… the owners having gone away for the weekend. So we had the place to ourselves… free range above a well stocked bar and kitchen which, to many, would seem like all our Christmases rolled into one! But, for our meal I made a simple omelette with a salad, followed by a yoghourt… with nothing alcoholic to drink. It was as much a complete opposite to excess as I could manage and our heads and stomachs felt all the better for it.

I attended Midnight Mass on Saturday evening at the abbey church across the road followed by the normal Sunday morning Mass a few hours later. Being in French I lose much of the nuance of the sermons and readings… but the words of the Lord’s Prayer which always stick in my mind and make me thankful are, “Donne-nous aujourd’hui notre pain de ce jour” or “Give us this day our daily bread.”

I do like bread here in France… there are so many varieties because most bakers have their own personal flour suppliers, tested recipes and cranky ovens – supposedly identical loaves on the shelves of two bakers on the same high street probably being completely different in taste and texture. I know of several people who make a daily round-trip of 20 kilometers for the bread and croissants baked in a wood-fired oven in the next town of Martizay rather than buying equally good bread two minutes walk away in this town of Preuilly-sur-Claise… because they like the added aroma of the Oak logs used by the boulanger in the neighbouring Indre département.

In the past – before I forsook car for bicycle – I did a similar round-trip two or three times a week to a neighbouring village at sunrise… the above image showing a typical loaf which would have been sufficient for two or three days consumption. This “Pain Rustique” is a rustic loaf of bread with a nondescript shape in that it usually has no pre- or final shaping. Because it has a rather vague name and is not a traditional variety, the shape and texture varies widely. It can be round, oval, rectangular or triangular. It is usually made with unbleached wheat flour and can have a soft or coarse texture and an open crumb. In this area it is sold by weight rather than by unit. It is also a hard bread and requires a heavy hand wielding a sharp serrated blade to cut a generous slice which can be liberally spread with butter and a choice of cheese or pressed to mop-up remaining thin traces of soup rather than the questionable habit of using one’s tongue.

The RM image was licensed by Alamy for world-wide distribution for three years in a textbook with a 10,000 print-run under my “Farming Today” pseudonym.

I am very fascinated by your blog. I am aware that people sell photos, but I haven’t seen any blogs where people discuss the photos they have taken and sold. Very interesting. I look forward to reading more – but right now it is time for a bike ride! :) And then I’ll have a slice of this bread with cheese, please. And coffee with lots of cream. Pure decadence.